Community treatment orders should be introduced in the Republic of Ireland

Community treatment orders and mental health social work: Issues for policy and practice in the UK and Ireland

“…Unlike the situation in England, Wales and Scotland, there is no provision for CTOs. In a recent debate on the subject (McDonald, O'Reilly, Kelly, & Burns, 2017), two opposing positions were taken. Powers exist under Section 26 of the Mental Health Act, 2001 that allow a degree of coercion in the community.…”

Who’s Talking About Us Without Us? A Survivor Research Interjection into an Academic Psychiatry Debate on Compulsory Community Treatment Orders in Ireland

“…In the following discussion, the arguments of McDonald and O'Reilly are reproduced using their own words, as a synopsis cannot do justice to the tone. (McDonald et al 2017). They begin by appealing to their colleagues with a statement presented as incontrovertible fact: 'Every psychiatrist knows that the commonest cause of relapse of psychotic illness in patients living in the community is non-adherence with medical treatment ' (McDonald et al 2017, p. 295).…”

“…Perhaps most important, it will perpetuate an image of our profession as one that follows fads and fashions and ignores the evidence when it is inconvenient. (Burns 2017, p. 301) Professor Kelly also argues against introduction of CTOs in Ireland, and cautions against the legislative creep of compulsory treatment into the community (Kelly, in McDonald et al 2017). Legislative creep occurs inevitably once CTOs become an option available to psychiatrists.…”

“…They are unacceptable from a human rights perspective: in particular from a perspective informed by personal experience of psychiatric treatment. User, consumer, and survivor perspectives are entirely absent in a recently published four-part debate between four professors of psychiatry (McDonald et al 2017). Professors McDonald and O'Reilly presented their case (McDonald and O'Reilly, in McDonald et al 2017), followed by arguments against CTOs from Professor Kelly (Kelly, in McDonald et al 2017) and Professor Burns (Burns, in McDonald et al 2017).…”

“…User, consumer, and survivor perspectives are entirely absent in a recently published four-part debate between four professors of psychiatry (McDonald et al 2017). Professors McDonald and O'Reilly presented their case (McDonald and O'Reilly, in McDonald et al 2017), followed by arguments against CTOs from Professor Kelly (Kelly, in McDonald et al 2017) and Professor Burns (Burns, in McDonald et al 2017). McDonald and O'Reilly offered a rebuttal of these arguments and the paper concluded with a final joint rebuttal from Kelly and Burns (Kelly and Burns, in McDonald et al 2017).…”